Hole-in-One
by Random Guise
Summary: Movieverse. Twelve years after the events of the movie, Stanley Yelnats IV is discussing with Hector Zeroni how to prevent kids from falling into the same situation they survived at Camp Green Lake. I don't own these characters, and the camp lakes I've been to had water.


**A/N: This short takes place twelve years after the movie "Holes".**

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Hole-In-One

"I thought you'd never want to see that place again" Hector "Zero" Zeroni told his friend as they sat in the coffee shop. "Twelve years later and sometimes I still wake up in the middle of the night thinking I've got to get up before the sun to grab a shovel and dig."

"You were at Camp Green Lake a lot longer than I was," Stanley "Caveman" Yelnats IV responded "but I think that place left a mark on everyone who was there."

"You mean like that mark on Mr. Sir's cheek?" Hector asked, grinning. In a fit of anger Louise Walker, camp warden, had scratched the camp enforcer's cheek with fingernails freshly painted with mildly poisonous polish. "Or maybe where I hit Mom with the shovel." Mom was the camp counselor Dr. Pendanski, who turned his back on Hector after insulting him one time too many.

"I'm talking about emotional stuff. A lot of kids that went there had problems to start with, but nobody was going to get fixed digging holes in the ground all day, sleeping on stinky cots and trying to figure out what kind of beans they were going to serve for dinner. Why do you think I went to school to be a counselor anyway? I knew after getting back home that there had to be a better way." After digging up and claiming the treasure of Kate Barlow, the two boys had no need to work for the rest of their lives. The success of Stanley's father after he perfected his shoe deodorizer just added to the family's coffers; in fact, a television nearby was showing a commercial for the product with spokesperson Clyde "Sweet Feet" Livingston.

Having the other guys from D Tent over for pool parties and game trips was fun, but Stanley wanted to do _something_. He thought of all the things that he could do with money and time, but his mind still came back to keeping kids from having to go to other places of Camp Green Lake's ilk. He got his certification, found a troubled youth half-way house and rolled up his sleeves and went to work. He'd had some small successes, but he wanted to reach more kids. While signing an autograph one day from someone that recognized him from being on the news after being freed from the camp, an idea sparked in his head. He thought about it, considered various angles and when he was ready brought in Hector to mull it over.

"But let me get this straight; you don't want to reopen it as a detention center, right?" Hector asked.

"Nope."

"Good, because I'd have to stop you" he laughed. "I can hire almost as many lawyers as you can. But you want the public to see it? Like a documentary on TV?"

"Kinda. I figure if I can get a TV crew out there, I could walk them through and show people just what the place was like."

"You mean like have the guys act to recreate what we went through?" Hector asked. "I don't want Armpit goin' without a shower for a week again."

Stanley held his nose and added "Neither do I." He freed his nostrils and glanced at the TV before continuing. "I don't think it would be that interesting to watch for long anyway. People would get bored and turn it back to sports or cop shows. There was a guy named Upton Sinclair that wrote a book a long time ago that talked about how awful it was in meat-packing plants. That got something done, but people don't read like that anymore."

Hector giggled, then apologized. "Sorry, some guy wiped out running that obstacle course on TV. You taught me to read, but I think you're right. What about making a movie?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm not that great an actor. Not only that, it's hard to make a movie out in the desert. Yeah, there may be a small lake now that it rains sometimes, but mostly it's still a desert. That's why they never opened that girls' camp; it's just too dry."

"Except up on the Thumb."

"Yeah, that one saved us" Stanley agreed. The rock formation called God's Thumb held a natural spring on top, along with a surprising growth of sweet onions. When they had run away from the camp the place had allowed them to rest and regain their strength over time. "I don't want to stay there for years, but it has to be something long enough that people will understand and help do something. But, it has to...be..." his sentence trailed off as another person fell victim to a tumble on the show. "Wait a minute...Hector, I got an idea."

...

The raucous sounds of fun streamed from the large game room in Stanley's house. Various former camp attendees were present playing cards, pinball, video games or pool. Most of the old gang from D tent was present except for Magnet, who was at the hospital for the birth of his second kid, and Barf Bag who had...well, nobody knew because he had just dropped out of contact over the years. Most kept looking up at the clock, keeping close tabs on the time. As the time drew nearer to 8 pm, the conversation started to lag; the anticipation became almost palatable. At five minutes till, Stanley stuck his head into the room. "The theater is now open, gentlemen." All quickly got out of their chairs and hustled into the living room to arrange themselves around the big screen television that dominated the room. Stanley kicked Squid out of his personal chair and sat as the commercials played out. At the top of the hour he used the remote to turn up the surround sound system as the conversation died away when the show started.

An aerial view swooped in over desert terrain, following a set of dusty tracks in the dirt. As the camera tracked forward, holes could be seen off in the distance as the viewer continued toward some type of shimmering mirage. The mirage resolved itself into a group of ramshackle buildings as the camera drew near until it stopped at the entrance where a rickety sign read "Welcome to Camp Green Lake", except someone had scratched out Green Lake and written in "Hell". As the dust rolled around and away from the camera, a figure came out of a house and walked toward the camera, stopping in front. The room cheered as Stanley addressed the camera.

"Hello, my name is Stanley Yelnats. Yes, the very same one from the news that was rescued from this...camp...in 2003. The camp was closed down shortly afterward and has been closed - until today. For the next 5 weeks you will be watching a new group of teens every week compete to find who is the best to cope with the challenges that we faced every day while we were held here." The camera pulled back to show a group of eight youths of various builds and ethnicity standing in front of him. They all wore orange jumpers.

"We've fixed up the camp so that it's a safe place, but we've tried to maintain as much of the look and feel as we could. Through the course of the week the group and audience will learn about the terrible conditions that were endured as part of a typical stay here, and particularly my time, and we hope it serves as an eye opener on the state of juvenile rehabilitation. To help me, I've brought in a few friends..." he said as the camera panned around and a line of adults walked up to the group and lined up facing them. "May I introduce the docents, my bunkmates during my stay." As the camera passed in front, a title was placed below each person as Stanley spoke. Each adult in the room got razzed when his name was spoken. "X-Ray. Armpit. Twitch. Zero. Squid. Magnet. When you came to Camp Green Lake, you were called by your new nickname. Each of our players will go by a nickname for the week, specially chosen by X-Ray. You have the stage, my man."

X-Ray stepped up to the line of contestants and addressed them as he went down the line. "You shall now be called..." and hesitated only momentarily between players before continuing "Rugrat. Mole. Tank. Flame. Knife. Breeze. Spit. Skyscraper." He returned to the line.

"Thanks, X-Ray. When we come back, we'll show you what these contestants will be up against during the next week." Stanley's image gave way to a flurry of video cuts showing various activities before the show went to commercial.

The audience in the room burst into a loud crush of conversation and joking as the break played out. Stanley muted the volume, but any commercials would have drowned out by the room's occupants anyway. When the show returned Armpit yelled and the room quieted.

"What have our contestants gotten themselves into? Each will participate in various activities based on our stays at the camp. Incarceration is not meant to be a vacation, but digging holes all day in the hot sun in no way addresses the issues and causes of today's troubled youth." He turned to face the contestants. "Don't worry; you won't be digging holes all day. Here are some clips of our docents giving instructions on what they'll be doing to compete for the honor to possibly become the 'Top Camper'. The winner from each of the four weeks will come back to compete against each other on the final show for the grand prize. Here are just some of the things they'll be struggling with; you folks at home can get a preview, but these upstanding individuals will have to wait..."

The scene switched to show Twitch addressing the group. "We've marked off a course in and out among the holes you see before you. Each hole is five feet deep and five feet wide. Your job is to drive this ATV around the course without missing a checkpoint; you will be rewarded with points on where you finish against each other. Fall into a hole and you receive no points and you might have to walk back to camp. Any questions?"

The location changed and Magnet was giving instructions to the group outside a building. "Survival at the camp meant that you worked for every scrap of food and water you could get. Located in that building are 10 candy bars that I assure you we never had. You job is to get as many as you can in the time limit and exit; setting off any alarms like loose floor boards or conveniently placed bottles will reduce your score."

Now the camera was at the base of a mountain. Zero spoke. "You've just attempted to escape the cruel taunts of the camp's director. The only water source around for 100 miles is at the top of this mountain, called God's Thumb. That's the good news. The bad news is you have to carry this 20 pound sack of sand that escaped with you up to the top as well. Fastest climber wins, as long as you don't lose your sack. Got it?"

The camera switched back inside the mess hall. Armpit spoke. "I like food, but what we ate here ain't food. In this challenge, you have to figure out what the stuff on your plate was supposed to be. We won't make you eat it, but if you can guess all the stuff in your tray's compartments you're better than I am and will max your points for this event."

Zigzag was up next. "We've got a lot of holes, and not much to do with them. In this challenge, we've built a catapult that you will aim and operate. You'll take these bundles made from old, stinky laundry and try to land them in various holes for points. If you're lucky the wind will be blowing away from the bundles. If you stayed here longer than a week you'd have to wear them next week."

Squid's face grinned on screen. "We dug a lot of holes; turns out someone was looking for a lost treasure and used us as free labor. We won't be digging any new holes here, but if our contestants want to try to find a hidden item we've...uh...hidden..." A chorus of laughter in the room caused Squid to blush. "...and if you want the bonus points for finding it you can try." The camera swung to show a pit full of garbage and other even more disgusting waste. "Sorry about the smell, no city sewer system you know."

X-Ray returned to the screen. He was standing beside some holes that had been lined in cement; various bikes, skates and boards lay nearby as the group approached in the distance. "Holes make a great skate park" he grinned. "Pick a bike, grab a skate, nab a board. I hope some of them do better than at the dance-off that we had last night at the bonfire."

The camera returned to Stanley addressing the contestants. "The home audience just got to see some of what you'll be doing; don't worry, you'll find out soon enough." He turned back to the camera. "It is our hope that you'll enjoy the show, cheer for your favorite, and think about what can be done to keep today's youth on the right path. Thank you; now if you'll excuse me, we've got some new recruits to get ready." He turned and ushered the contestants toward the barracks.

During the commercial break Stanley jumped up and went into the kitchen. Hector followed him in and asked "Do you think it will help? I mean, will you get people interested?"

"I don't know, but I gave it my best shot. We all did. Who knows, maybe we made a hole-in-one."

The End

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**A/N: It might be quite a few people's dreams to be one of the idle rich, but not everyone would be happy without having some type of goal or career. Stanley wanted to help Zero to read, and I think that desire to help might have carried on into his adult life.**


End file.
